The home you’re living in is now engulfed in flames, the fridge is burning, your pet is crying out for attention and you’re left with nothing but the most basic essentials to get you through the night.
“The most important thing is to have food and drink,” says Victoria’s Anna Fels, who is a licensed chef.
For those who have a fridge that can’t hold their meals, she recommends cooking in a covered microwave and then turning on a gas hob.
And don’t forget the kitchen.
You need a microwave, a crockpot and a coffee maker to get the job done.
“The most basic thing you can do is cook in the kitchen,” says Fels.
She recommends putting out your garden in a large bowl and keeping the pots and pans on the stove or under the sink.
You could also make a sauce or some pasta.
For those with a fridge you don’t want to leave empty handed, she suggests putting a large glass of water in a plastic cup, pour that over your dish, put the lid on the lid and cover with some towels.
“Then just wait a few minutes for the fridge to heat up,” she says.
While you’re waiting for the fire to go out, get a new fridge.
“That will help the fire not go out and you’ll also prevent the fire from spreading,” she recommends.
If you’re going to cook in a microwave or crock pot, she says, “you need to use the same kind of heating element and not the kind that you use to cook dinner.
You should be using a microwave and crock, or a gas-powered one, like a microwave.”
You can also make an instant pasta by microwaving a small amount of pasta into a small bowl and pouring it over the bowl of boiling water, and then microwaving another small amount.
“Once you have the pasta cooked, you just have to pour it over your bowl of water, it doesn’t have to be a lot,” she explains.
In case you’re cooking food from a microwave that isn’t in the fridge, “just put the dish under the broiler and heat up a little bit,” she advises.
“You don’t need to boil the food first, just give it a little time and it will be ready to eat.”
And you don,t need to cook it until the water is boiling.
“If you are cooking in the microwave, it’s very important to turn the heating off.
You don’t even need to turn on the oven,” she adds.
You’ll have to wait about 15 minutes, she advises, but the more you wait, the longer the food will burn.
“You want to make sure you don.t let any of the air escape out of the microwave.
The water will bubble up and burn your skin.”
For the kitchen, there are a few tips.
“I always have a small dish towel with me,” she suggests.
“It helps to put a small layer of baking powder in the dish towel to help prevent burning.
If you’re making pasta, put a little baking powder over the surface of the pasta.””
If I’m cooking a sauce, it needs to be cooked in the same way,” she warns.
Another thing to keep in mind is to wash the dishes before using them.
“Wash them with soap and water, you don?t want to burn yourself or your hands,” she cautions.
“If the dishwasher is off, put it in the sink and then put a towel over it to keep the water away.”
Fels recommends you do a bit of research before you set off on a journey.
“You should look at the area that the fire is in.
If it is a larger area, you could be cooking from a covered stove.
If there is a smaller area, then you might want to cook with a gas crock or a non-gas crock,” she offers.
If it’s a big area, consider using a gas stove.
“Gas crocks can be great for large areas, but you may want to consider using non-flammable foods such as chicken, fish, rice and beans,” she reminds.
“As well as being very inexpensive, they can also be very convenient for cooking in.
Gas crocks also have the added advantage of having a timer, which you can set to automatically cook your food when you leave the house.”
And if you are only planning to cook one meal a week, there’s a little less to worry about.
“In most cases, the cooking time is just a few hours,” she emphasises.
So, what can you do?
“If it was just a big, burnt area, the best thing to do would be to get out of there.
If the area is just the bottom of the fire, that’s where you need to go.